The First Eight Minutes of ABC’s Extraterrestrial Lizard-Nazi Remake V Are Online Now!!

I am – Hercules!!
In the big “Lost” divorce, “FlashForward” got Charlie and Penny while “V” got Juliet and a couple of “Firefly” stars.
Four episodes of ABC's "V" remake will be aired in November starting Nov. 3. Assuming the ratings are not disastrous, the plan is to resume production on more episodes that will air in spring.

But it just gives me the HEROES Vibe, and not in a "One good season worth of shows stretched into 4 seasons" feeling, its more of a "if plot points weren't conveniently thrown in and characters weren't idiots the story wouldn't move forward" kind of vibe.

... part of the mystique of the original is that at the time, nobody knew what to expect or what it was about until it aired. The fact that the plot won't come as surprise to anyone is all part and parcel of this disease, which has completely infected Hollywood, called remakes.

... this does look actually really bloody good.I like the way it does its own cover version of the alien ships arrival (the plane crashing, the ships reflected in the glass of the buildings, the light in the sky before the face appears) rather than simply ripping off the way it was done in the original or ripping off ID4s cover of the same scene (giant walls crossing the sky casting shadows - still has the best imagery). There are only a couple of things that bug me 1) the ID4 reference - its as if the writers thought - 'people who saw ID4 but didn't see the original V will think we're ripping off Independence Day - how do we handle that? Erm,um -lets make a quick joke out of it & hope people will laugh it off' They needn't have worried about this & should have just not acknowledged Independence Day since they've clearly done their own thing with this scene rather than just rip it off. 2) the line 'Oh God' when the face appears is a bit on the nose. These minor complaints aside - this builds up suspense really well & visually - it looks pretty stunning. Look forward to seeing it

Huge, huge fan of the original (even the weekly series had its guilty charms - Jane Badler in spandex after all) but the original's opening was far more startling. <p> <p> Strange that the version from 25 years ago had the action packed, explosive prologue - whereas the one made in our A.D.D. "must make 'splosions" Noughties is more of a slow burn. <p> <p> Still, as a talkbacker noted above, it works as a sort of "cover version". <p> <p> Probably won't be great, but could be good. I'll miss the red suits and jackboots of the original, Kenneth Johnson's initial two-parter is still chilling in its own way, if a bit heavy-handed at times. But I appreciate this isn't a beat-for-beat remake, and less about a military-political takeover and more about our collective need for idols.

But didn't they learn anything from the Lost hiatus a couple years ago? Why 4 eps, then a long break? You can't get any momentum that way. How can a show become a must see, if you can't plan on it being there? Sorry, but this is not going to go well.

Then the Visitors should expose some far reaching conspiracy in the government, but the exposure of one conspiracy is just part of another even bigger conspiracy being planned by the Visitors. What is it Hitler said? The bigger the conspiracy, the more likely people are to believe it.

but we have to cordon off this area of people from this other area of people for no apparent reason. Maybe if a diversion occurs behind me, you can sneak over unseen to join a different group of people. And maybe you'll run into your son there, it's a small city....."
Too much dumb in too little time.

In the vein of SF making you think, and being counter-culture, they should have avoided all Nazi metaphors, and gone with an Iraqi metaphor.
<p>
Namely a country/world is invaded by a vastly superior force, the resistance are branded as terrorists, etc... It's foolish to have the aliens fall into such obvious tropes as black/white good/evil. Alien should mean an alien way of thinking. They think they're doing the right thing, we think they should have stayed the fuck out of it, etc...
<p>
Good SF should make you think.

You really think an Iraq metaphor implying our invasion might make us the real bad guys is an original idea? Now?? 2003-4, sure. 2009-10?? Cliche. It's the only allegory Hollywood seems to be able to think of in the last few years.

Wasn't too crazy about the pacing. Everything seemed to happen to quickly. They need to take their time with it, let the characters develop. But 90% of the country has ADD, so that won't work. However, I loved the soundtrack at the end. Made exclusively with Garage Band.

I think it will have a great first week of ratings and crash out like flashforward is doing. I already heard from a person who saw the first episode that it moves way too fast for a series. They should have done it as a mini-series like the first one. They didn't learn their lesson 20 years ago when the V: series was canned.

Good for another 4, sucked thereafter. This V needs to worry less about pulling the "surprise" of the first series (though many will not be familiar) and instead about maintaning a story for the long haul. And like Galactica, its ok to reference current events but avoid being tied down by them. Reach for timeless themes rather than a simple Nazi, al Quieda or Iraq metaphor.

Few reasons...
1) Blacks tend to have, what society would consider, more “masculine features” than other ethnic groups. Therefore the males tend to be more sought after than the females. Visa versa for Asians, where their race tends to have more feminine features, which is why females are more sought after...hence more instances of White guys w/ Asian girls, Black guys w/ White girls.
2) "Tall, dark, handsome" preference points women towards darker toned men, as men vie for "Shorter, fairer, hot", leading men, in generally, to fairer skinned women. Asked a professor in one of my Archaeology classes about this and he told me there's no firm theory. He said one popular theory suggests that women who tend to stay indoors and care for kids would typically be fairer skinned, thus more sought after than those roaming about...and men who work hard and are outside more would tend to get darker skin, making them more sought after.
All these are generalizations, granted, but growing up in a family with White Dad and Black Mom (atypical), we’ve always had strong interest in learning about interracial matters.

RE: Why do black women... <p>
Few reasons... <p>
1) Blacks tend to have, what society would consider, more “masculine features” than other ethnic groups. Therefore the males tend to be more sought after than the females. Visa versa for Asians, where their race tends to have more feminine features, which is why females are more sought after...hence more instances of White guys w/ Asian girls, Black guys w/ White girls. <p>
2) "Tall, dark, handsome" preference points women towards darker toned men, as men vie for "Shorter, fairer, hot", leading men, in generally, to fairer skinned women. Asked a professor in one of my Archaeology classes about this and he told me there's no firm theory. He said one popular theory suggests that women who tend to stay indoors and care for kids would typically be fairer skinned, thus more sought after than those roaming about...and men who work hard and are outside more would tend to get darker skin, making them more sought after. <p>
All these are generalizations, granted, but growing up in a family with White Dad and Black Mom (atypical), we’ve always had strong interest in learning about interracial matters.

On the positive side, it was and is a good premise for TV, I like most of the actors (though still have to see how they're used) and there were some decent shots and effects.<BR><BR>
On the negative side, they need to put a lot more effort into the writing. There are other issues beyond the writing, but genearlly speaking, it's hard to fault the other stuff if the writing isn't there.<BR><BR>
To start off on the criticisms, that was a standard, by-the-book, uninteresting, unimaginitive way of starting a show and introducing the characters. I know they started with the "Where were you when..." and preceded to show where each of the characters where "when" but the result is rather boring and this isn't a show about "where were you when." And 95% of what we learn about the characters in these first 9 minutes is irrelevent at this point. There's no energy or momentum in learning who everyone is but you can create momentum by making the audience wonder who they are. There's no reason why a story that involves an Alien invasion can't grab us from the get go. <BR><BR>
Better would've been to introduce them in stages, in action and paced so we get to know them slowly over time based on relevent situations to the plot. Maybe (out of what we saw in the first 9 minutes) start with the jet crashing. It's something thrilling and creates a small "mystery" surrounding the jet as well as the character we know nothing about. This is enough momentum to push us forward to the next scene or two. <BR><BR>
They also need to tighten things up and cut out a lot of fat like when the woman's flipping through the channels. That was poorly done and unnecessary. And I don't need to see how each and every one of the characters reacts to watching things shake and fall.<BR><BR>
The extras are poorly used and shot. All the crowd scenes come off as fake/staged giving the show a cheap quality. And there was the usual "that doesn't make sense" stuff like how fast the national guard was mobilized or why the two men started slugging away at each other etc.<BR><BR>
The music was unobtrusive but maybe too much so. I don't need to hear John Williams but something that better enahances the moment would've been nice. Lighting was mostly fine.

and the whole Black guy/White woman relationship... there's a little known independent show called "LOST" that has a White male character and a female Black character who are married.<p>
There are two things I liked about these 8 minutes:<P>1) its good to see FATHER "BOBBY JONES" getting work, (all that we need now is Cardinal WALTER HAGAN, and we'd have a cool BAGGER VANCE reunion), <P>2)and everytime I see "Juliette" I'm taken back to GIA when she gets nekkid and makes out with Angelina Jolie.... (Does anyone else think she and Carrie Anne Moss were separated at birth?).
<P>Other than that, it looked decidedly "meh", and how the EFF does Scott Wolf still get work?!?! he should have never worked in the business again after that McDonalds commercial.

The obvious "Oh-no-that-crucifix-is-gonna-fall-on-that-guy" symbolism could have been toned down for better effect. Juliet shouldn't have found her son in the first 8 minutes. Build some tension, why don'tcha? Just-bought-a-ring guy could have at least started to run to help the fallen pilot. So, this guy is not a hero? The journalists don't even go for a camera?

Everyone knows they are aliens, so it's smart to have Earth aware of them right away.
The key is to either have faction fights with in the Visitors as well as outside alien races or to go with the resistance/terrorist angle. If this was in great hands, it would have both, allowing the "inter-species struggle for Life" dichotomy to have a real impact as opposed to an "Oh I see what you did there" failure.

<p>Did some of you even watch the trailers? I don't think this is going to be about Nazis. It looks like it is going to be about blind faith and almost god-like worship of a higher power they know nothing about. Most of the people who populate this site wont like that by default since it essentially is attacking the current state of government and people's reaction to it.</p>
<p>BTW, V-Shael, you're description of the Iraq war way up the board list offended me so much I had to say something down here. If that is what you think the Iraq war is all about, that Al-Qaeda are just resistance or freedom fighters....wow....I couldn't be more offended or sickened by a post.

I kind of liked it. I loved the original and still watch it every year during the summer. This looks to me to have a different vibe to it. More in tune with what is going on now rather than Nazis. I also like that they credited Kenneth Johnson.

Was laughable to say the least...and is, in fact, just a generic music library track available for purchase anywhere. I have used that exact same cut on some of the vids I have worked on (as early as the late 90's, BTW. It's an oldie, too!). This track is probably NOT music offically used in the show...just tacked on to the credits of this 8 min preview. But still...there are TONS of generic tracks they could have used that would have been more fitting for the mood they just spent 8 mins setting up. Even a low drone with some ominous drum hits would have been a better choice. <p>
BTW...a lot of these "8 Min" previews are cut down versions of the actual 8 minutes that will see air. It's likely there were probably some shots clipped from this preview. <p>
Having to kids mention "Independence Day" only serves to remind me that "ID" already did this scenario...and far better. And "District 9" has completely stolen this premise's thunder...in a far more believable fashion. <p>
I don't see "V" making it to the spring at all. Anybody remember "Invasion"? ABC is retreading their own "retreads"! They are desperate to find SOMETHING that will capture LOST's audience before we all say "adios" next May. I think ABC is failing to realize that LOST was lightning in a bottle. And simply putting our favorite LOST actors in these new roles is NOT going to keep us watching. ABC better start thinking about STORY and not CASTING if they want to find a decent LOST replacement. Quite frankly, I don't think they ever will. <p>
If "V" & "FlashForward" tank...get ready for "The Jimmy Kimmel Show"...now on at 10pm.

But what else is new?
by The E.
1) Anthropomorphically speaking more masculine features are things like supraorbital torus and developed jawline, it's not a subjective measure there are biological features in primates which establish "masculinity" for the opposite sex. Big lips and wide noses like blacks have are not "masculine" features. Not sure where you're getting that from. In terms of musculature, whites have more than blacks, although blacks have more fast twitch.
2) "Tall, dark and handsome" has nothing to do with black skin, it has to do with dark coloring of hair and eyes aka "Black Irish" in England where the phrase came to be. I dont know what kind of 2 bit "archeology" professor lectures about sociology but societies with a preference for light skin have it very strongly in both sexes. Both light skinned females and light skinned males are considered more attractive in those societies, even when both sexes spent time outside like in bush societies. It has nothing to do with staying indoors (lmao) and probably has to do with the fact that melanin in the body increases after infancy... eye and hair coloring darken as you age, fair skin and light coloring being evocative of infancy and fertility and therefore attractive is one theory. The stronger theory is that there's simply a natural evolutionary human preference for light skin, just as there is for slim women and tall men since that preference exists pretty much anywhere people have dark skin.

It should've been "Y" ...
as in "wtf did this need to be remade"
I did like the jab at Independence Day. I was one of the jerks in the theatre who said: "Did they just use the spaceship footage from "V"?"

the whole "Nazi" thing in the original wasn't just a penchant for orange and black colour schemes... <p>
there were TWO very important things going on, which underlined the whole point of the exercise (as in what they were trying to achieve with the show, beyond entertaining some people) - the first was the PROPAGANDA war the Visitors waged on SCIENTISTS, analogous to JEWS in Hitler's Germany, because they were their biggest threat (indeed, who came up with the Red Dust?) and the other was more subtle - I daresay perhaps too subtle but maybe not... <p>
in Nazi Germany, if you didn't get along with your neighbour, you could pick up the phone and call the SS and anonymously "inform" them you suspect him to be a Jew-sympathiser and the next day the problem with your neighbour just mysteriously disappeared... ORDINARY taxpaying Godfearing redblooded people WILLINGLY joined in and basically enabled atrocities they themselves would have condemned others for perpetrating BECAUSE THAT IS IN OUR NATURE <p>
I don't know about worship and idolatry and all that, but this remake most definitely seems to be going down the RECRUITMENT path the original used so well to remind us how easily we give up our fellow man, for very little in return... <p>
there was a famous experiment done many years ago, where volunteers were lead to believe they were indirectly responsible for delivering (potentially fatal) electric shocks to innocent people in another room. the experiment was designed in such a way that the only prompting they received was a simple request by the "scientist" in charge to "please continue" - that's all! just "please continue the experiment" - very few people actually refused - they were able to successfully hand over responsibility (in their minds) to the "scientist" for whatever happened and convinced themselves they were simply following orders... <p>
now THAT is the part of what happened in Iraq that is the same as what happened in Occupied Europe that is the same as what happened in V - and will no doubt happen again, in V <p>
<br>
it is a lesson I suspect we will never ever learn, no matter how many times anything gets remade

after i delivered several electric shocks to that guy i realized man i should like stop or something coz my fingers are getting tired man, sheeesh. but in all earnest, why are you such an anti-war person? Iraq was important, we got one less dictator to worry about. i think what you mean is the atomic bomb sent to hiroshema, those scientists were nuts and were totally delusional.

Go back and watch--it doesn't hold up. Sure it was exciting back in the days of 3 networks, Cagney and Lacey, Murder She Wrote and Simon & Simon...but it was mostly stupid and fairly piss poor on story. It won't find a footing in today's market. Ditto A-Team movie.

The jet fighter was a nice touch. The people looked much like the types they had in the old series. I lked the fact that the ship didn't simply look like a flying saucer. It held my interest throughout the 8 min clip. I'll give it a chance Bucka wow, bucka wow.

After seeing the start, it's frustrating. Joel Gretsch deserves a real long-running success, the guy is a great genre actor. This doesn't look like it's going to be it, though. I love the original V mini-series, I even liked the tv show for what it was but I'm not one to think any of it can't be bettered - it's a great story that's most definately able to be updated in a great way. This looks pretty bad though. Too many of those swooping tracking shots. Too fast into the story with no sense of dread - that stupid TV moment about Independance Day just had me groaning in pain. The over the top symbolism of the cross falling due to their arrival just killed it, it had slipped within 4 minutes to a parody of the original with that. I hope it gets better. I hope I'm wrong and it's great. It looks like shit right now though and I'll be very surprised if more than those 4 existing episodes ever get filmed.

what we see is a bunch of conspiratards spreading more and more bullshit in the run up to the big non-event, 2012.
<p>
Same sort of retarded shit was done for comet Hale-Bopp, and for 1999, 2000 and 2001. Some people never fucking learn, and there's a generation of suckers being born every few years to replace the ones who finally get a clue.

It's a pretty solid comparison, only I'd add the caveat that Iraq Taliban = American Rightwingers, which helps validate the fact that the majority of the Iraqis were all about ousting the invading force (us) while the truly evil groups within that whole used the invasion to their advantage, aka recruitment. So if we take that and parallel it with aliens invading the world (focus on the US) with a sizable number of our citizenry rising up to fight, it totally works. You can't demonize all Iraqis for the attitudes of some of their more extremist citizens. At least, I hope you can't. :)

i'm writing this in lower case because that's how much enthusiasm i have for seeing that. that is too truly horrible for words. if you can't reach your audience in the first 8 minutes why waste another 80?

Why are you comparing the Iraq war with Nazi Germany in your post? Your whole point about the scientific experiment and why a whole country can simply take orders from their superiors without question does not apply to the United States Military's all volunteer army whom most agree with the premise of taking out an evil dictator before he became as dangerous as Hitler with nukes and WMD's down the road.
Do you believe the United States shouldn't have entered into WWII and taken out Hitler and the Japanese who were hellbent on world domination? You cannot be in favor of entering into WWII and be against taking out Saddam Hussein.
These evil dictators are fighting a war with the US by proxy. Giving or selling weapons to terrorists (Islamic, whomever) who also seek to destroy us. What they don't realize is those terrorists will come after them once their goal is accomplished as well..
Ultimately this V remake looks stupid already. Yes, the special effects look great, however what made the original show cool was we hadn't seen that high end quality models on TV quite like the miniseries. Remember Star Wars was big back then as well and for a TV show, the idea was quite amazing and fresh. These aliens in this new remake may look a whole lot better, but it is Marc Singer and Robert Englunds performances which really made the show work. I just don't know if I can feel the same thing about these characters. Especially if they switch around the roles of the reporters. It is more believable with a tough guy character. Just my two cents.

does the name Abu Ghraib ring a bell? <br>
btw, I'm talking about HUMAN nature, not American or Japanese or Russian or whatever - suicide bombers are a CLASSIC example of the "not my call" guilt-avoidance that the Milgram Experiment highlights. <p>
Same sort of thing went on in Bosnia, too btw<p>
Did you ever hear about the Stanford prison experiment? You can arbitrarily pick ordinary citizens (or select from a volunteer army if that makes a difference to you) and randomly appoint them to the role of prisoner and guard. <p>
Sit back and watch these COMPLETELY RANDOM people tear each other apart, after just a few days - even though they never even met before and have absolutely nothing against each other beyond the fact they were arbitrarily assigned opposing roles in a FAKE scenario... <p>
hell, we see something not all that different in flame wars on these here talkbacks every day!

but trying to not get too attached to the idea of the series sticking around. i hope it doesnt go the "surface" or "invasion" route... that was a good summer of sci-fi... i was pissed when those shows were dropped. fuck, what hope is there when terminator only lasted 2 seasons...

But FRIENDLY Aliens! We're here in our giant HDTV spaceships to help you out. To prove we're nice, look on the screen. It's our ambassador to you guys. What a hottie, right guys? And gals, isn't her hairdo just to die for? She's pretty, but not threatening, huh ladies? Well, anyway, we're just gonna start solving your energy crisis and cure all your diseases and uh... this planet has rodents on it, right? Just askin' is all.

Why the fuck would we travel 100 light years to blow up the Capital Records building, right? Oh! And we can assure you... Keanu Reeves is NOT one of us. Sorry, but you guys are solely to blame for that one, sorry. Now uh... about all the rodents. We uhm... need 'em all sent up to do, uhhhh... scientific research.. yeah, research... all the disease curing and all, ya know.

In your first post, you make some good observations of the original V miniseries. I do have to disagree with you on your take of the "guilt avoidance" path that suicide bombers take. It is far deeper than that as they are trained with propaganda from a very early age to want to commit suicide in order to achieve their goal in life. Now, in other cases some bombers are doing it to protect their family as they have been threatened that if they do not blow themselves up where they are told, their family would be killed. The mistake you are making is bunching up an entire group into "psychological" categories in order to fit whatever argument you are trying to make. Good and Evil, right and wrong, emotions and survival instincts. All these things play a roll in human nature. Complete hatred towards other groups is something that can be as simple or complex as the child grows up.
In certain cases,like you pointed out, people will do terrible things to others if they feel the blame falls on someone else. However in the case of suicide bombers and other groups, it isn't always the case.
V worked as a miniseries because it showed an evil group of aliens that needed to kill humans for food and destroy the planet for water so they could survive and move on to another planet to continue surviving. However within the aliens is a small group (fifth column) that did not want to see the aliens do this) And there were freedom fighters on the ground who could see thru the lies and deception. The aliens can be viewed as the dictatorial communist/fascist mindset while Donovan and his team can be viewed as the conservative freedom fighter who wants to topple the evil and restore freedom to America.
I compare the struggle conservatives today are having with the liberals in power today in America. (in a lighter sense ofcourse) With the struggle the conservatives are facing fighting Obama's propagandist agenda leaving out his real views about a "public option" for healthcare and the current fight against the only opposing media towards the current administration. Silencing talk radio thru the fairness doctrine and not giving Fox news journalistic credibility the day after a secret meeting was held with three opinion journalists in the Obama White House..Olberman and Madow..
Even you liberals can see the hypocrisy going on there... And the danger of giving too much power to any one group....
It will be intersting to see how the lizards in this new iteration act like the current administration and if the liberal writers will cop out and say it is supposed to be the Bush administration and not Obama...lol.

I saw the complete pilot at Comic-Con back in July. Here was the review I wrote up at the time. The first part is general and contains no real spoilers. The later part (which will be noted) contains some serious spoilers).
For those of you who don’t remember, V first appeared in 1984 as a miniseries about a group of aliens who come to Earth. At first the Visitors seem friendly and look human. But we soon learn they are actually evil lizard like creatures that like to lunch on human flesh. The mini was successful enough to spawn a second miniseries and a one season series.
The new V is a complete remake (or ‘reimage’ in the new parlance).
First impression. The show has potential. At least enough to make me want to see the next couple of episodes to see where it goes. The pilot itself has a few flaws that detract from the overall feel.
The biggest single problem is that pilot comes across as very rushed. They basically crammed a 2-3 hour story into a 1 hour pilot. The writing also tends towards telling us what is happening rather than showing us what is happening.
For example, the Visitors arrive on the scene in the first five minutes of the show. This is a big mistake. They should have spent at least 20-30 minutes setting up the pre-visitor world. A lot of the characters make a big deal later in the episode about how the Visitors timing is so perfect. This is a major plot element on the show and used to justify much of what happens later in the pilot. The world was teetering on the brink before the Visitors arrived. But no sense of this is given in the show itself. You basically get ordinary people doing ordinary things. There’s a brief news blip about a second stimulus package but that’s it.
What they should have done was set that up at the beginning. Have the lead characters commenting on desperate world events (new wars pending in the Middle East, another nuke test in N Korea etc). Show some news reports of bad economic times, comments/news footage on rioting. Have more homeless in the streets. In other words don’t just say the world is in desperate straits, SHOW us a world in desperate straits.
The FX is solid (by TV standards) but one does get a feel that the show has a VERY strict budget and it is being closely monitored. There are no WOW moments after the initial appearance of the motherships (the interior shot during the tour comes the closest). There is also a key point at the end where some FX probably should have used but a budget approach is used instead.
The acting for the most part is OK. Most of the leads do a good job. Elizabeth Mitchell’s Erica Evans is a strong female lead. She does good with FBI stuff. I liked the investigation aspect of the show. Joel Gretsch plays a priest trying to reconcile the Visitors with God’s plan. Surprisingly this doesn’t come across as either too preachy or overly pious. If they manage to keep this balance they could have the best portrayal of religious characters in sci-fi since Babylon Five went off the air. Scott Wolf is still Scott Wolf. He does a passable job as the career conscious reporter. The gorgeous Morena Baccarin does a wonderful job as the alien leader. And our good friend Alan Tubyk does usual fun job as Erica’s partner Dale. The rest of cast did not leave much of an impression on me other than the son, who was bit annoying. But that’s how the character is written so I can’t really blame the actor.
(Minor spoilers from this point forward)
As mentioned the story in the pilot feels VERY rushed. After the Visitors arrive we flash forward a couple of weeks time and the Visitors already set up healing centers, regular tours to the mother ships etc etc. It feels rushed. There is no transitional period. Again this would have worked better if the show had done a better job setting up the pre-Visitor world. Demonstrated WHY everyone was so ready to reach for the outstretched hands of the Visitors.
The other problem comes when it is hinted (MAJOR SPOILER) that the Visitors have been to Earth before and have manipulated events to ease their arrival. Again this would have worked better had the pre-arrival world been better established at the beginning. They could even have hinted at this better during the set–up. Another strike is that I’m not a big fan of ‘every bad thing happens because of a conspiracy’ plot. It’s lets us poor stupid humans off the hook for our own mistakes.
Again the pilot did do its job, in that I want to see more. But the writing needs to improve. More showing less telling.

I hadn't come across any real reviews yet, so that was quite welcome. I was expecting worse, but hoping for better. Based on your review, I'll scale down my hopes and hopefully enjoy it for what it is.

If it ran with the Obama subtext. But it wont. They already pulled/changed one of the commercials where she was talking about providing healthcare. It smacked of the false claims we are getting noow from our government.

At least he's a little better than his predecessor, The Idiot King. Those 8 years were like living in the last 10 or fifteen issues of Grant Morrison's old Doom Patrol comic written during the height of one of his infamous psychodelic drug benders. You know, the issues where the series had long since stopped making any sense whatsoever, everyone wore miniature cathedrals for hats or had faucets sticking out of their foreheads and reading them just sort of really creeped you out.

I think the show would have potential if the visitors used a similar approach to the Obama administration in trying to include a public option but saying they really don't want one...But then they discuss renaming the public option to something else in order to fool people since the name itself has lost support..lol...
It is funny the network is so liberal that they have to pull a fictional commercial about the aliens providing healthcare..lol..

V came first. It was a popular mid 80s mini-series on NBC which spawned a hit sequel mini-series and then a not so popular tv series. Independence Day ripped V off, from top to bottom...and side to side, not the other way around.

Why has there been no Black Bachelor on ABC's The Bachelor reality show? And you'll notice this with other dating shows. They don't like racial mixing. I find iit interesting that we have a mixed race President, and yet Disney Corp/ABC refuses to allow a Black man to be The Bachelor on their show...and people like Obama and Oprah say nothing about it, and the obvious racist practice, therein? Save for some cable reality dating shows, ones that make Black men look like buffoons, you won't see it. Both are bad, because one circumstance is nothing but racial apartheid, catering to the racist fear of Black men, and the other, wishes people to remain comfortable with racial stereotypes of Black men...instead of showing successful, caring, and well educated Black men.

If it ripped off anything, it ripped off the War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, just updating the concept of a virus being their downfall.
<p>
V had infiltration, subversion, take-over, resistance and victory. Independence Day... had lots of explosions, Wil Smith, and hilarious dialog. Aside from their both using the "virus" defence, they have remarkably little in common.

The National Socialist movement was always a left-wing movement. Go read a book. Aside from the ethnic genocide angle, their values reflected much of what you see on the left to this day. Not even comparing Nazis to Democrats, just saying the comparison to Republicans has no basis in fact. At all.

please, please do expand on that premise sir. I am intrigued. some of the hallmarks of early Nazi policy (, fierce patriotism, censorship, bigotry, an intolerance of homosexuality) seem more in common with extreme right-wing ideas in America today. I'd love to know what similarities the Nazis had with current left-wingers.<p>but be careful...AICN tolerates a lot of right-wing nonsense...er, I mean...."ideas". but if you're at all Nazi-friendly, you might get Das Boot.<p>also, and this is just an aside....there's just something about your writing style that smacks of a conspiracy theory devotee. be honest...moon landing a hoax? 9/11? etc. drop the knowledge, because I have you pegged as an Alex Jones devotee...am I right?

But V STILL failed in the fact that with all their tech, the lizards needed water and food. They had spacecraft the size of cities, but couldn't figure out how to manufacture water or to farm animals, apparently.

not sure if you're still reading but, hey, I think we have been talking about different things. <p>
once again, I am NOT talking about America or ANY POLITICAL PARTY in ANY country, for that matter. <p>
I am talking about ordinary people - the "man on the street" - who not only go along with what they know (if only deep down) to be a dodgy regime but will happily play the game and exploit the system to their own benefit and the detriment - possibly DEATH - of their fellow man. Ordinary people. Not soldiers. Not politicians. <p>
This across ALL racial/cultural/ideological/whatever boundaries - there is nothing "good" or "evil" going on here - it is simply HUMAN nature. <p>
-and V was very much about showing this rather ugly facet of you and me - and it's a lot more complex than just "fascists" marching in step in their jackboots or whatever. It's people actually believing the hype and saying "the scientists" are not to be trusted. It's about COLLABORATORS joining the regime - like in Vichy France - in exchange for favourable treatment. <p>
selling out their neighbours <p>
their friends <p>
their FAMILY <p>
<br>
sure you can make a lizards comparison according to your favourite political agenda, but I wasn't talking about the lizards...

What? The left can't be fierce patriots as well? Without boring anyone to death, The National Socialist Party (Nazis) had the following in common with the Left:
Free Healthcare
Pro-Abortion
Pro-Euthanasia
Pro-Gun Control
A loathing of the free market
Generous pensions for the elderly
Nazis led the world in organic farming and alternative medicine, in fact, Hitler himself was a strict vegetarian and Himmler a staunch animal rights activist. This is not to say Democrats are genocidal would-be world conquerers. I'm simply saying, as a conservative, that I'm sick of the comparisons made by the Left of Republicans to National Socialism, especially since it has more in common with the Left. Think the left isn't down with censorship? Look right now at what the Obama White House is attempting to do with Fox News. I'll agree that bigotry and and intolerance for homosexuality are terrible. I'll also say that they are incompatible with modern conservatism, and The Republican Party. Forgive my ignorance, but I know nothing of Alex Jones, except that he's on the radio. I listen to Howard Stern. What of my writing smacks of conspiracy theory devotion? 9/11 was clearly a conspiracy of muslim extremists, where planes were hijacked and rammed into the WTC, Pentagon and one attempted to ram the White House. Moon landing? I have no doubt that Mankind's Greatest Acheivement happened as it was seen live on TV. I also truly believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of JFK. I really do.

his spokespeople are very vocal, labeling it "not a news organization", all this while having a private meeting with Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. Could you imagine if Bush had a private (they'd start calling it a "secret") meeting with Beck and Hannity?

is going to be laid out in a much different way. This administration will attempt to shut up it's critics by accusing them of "hate speech" or marginalizing them as "tabloid/entertainment/opinion journalism". And because they're the authority, many people will believe them. And if you're already an Obama fan, well then they're just preaching to the choir. Not monitoring Fox News? Better believe they are.

1. She does have spectacular cans.
2. Who's the Halle Berry knock-off?
3. How'd the Natl Guard get there so fast?
4. If I see the "quivering glass of water because something large and ominous is approaching" one more time, it'll be too soon.
5. I'm gonna watch "Gia"'s chain-link fence scene again.

All I can say is we have many liberals running this aintitcool website and one conservative. That is the ratio of all the news organizations and universities in the USA pretty much. Fox news is about 80/20 ratio while all the rest are 99/1..lol..
Obama did have a secret meeting with Olberman and Maddow the day before announcing that Fox news is not a real news organization but entertainment and snubbing them from that moment forward. It is amazing to see people comparing W. Bush's treatment towards all the liberal media the same way Obama is handling Fox news and talk radio. Simply put, you cannot compare.
I am hoping the liberal writers of V do their best to spin all the similarites the Visitors have somehow so they do not look like the Obama administrations health care propaganda scheme. So they pull the already filmed advertisements.. Just like Saturday Night Live did the week after their Obama bash on what he has accomplished in the first year.. That was a great skit, however the week after they toned it down to nothing after all the criticism they got from CNN..lol..
So we shall see what happens with this. Interesting to read everyone's posts.

I don't see anymore talkbacks about this show so I am necroing this thread. So far, the show is good. Episode 2 was a rehash of 1 while 3 added a few new twists. The Bliss which is the drug Anna uses to control her people reminds me of Robocop 2's nuke...If I thatis correct. The way the v's are influencing public opinion, etc. is interesting as it is echoing how Obama spreads his propaganda. I'm hoping the show does get picke up for the season